Apple Preparing For MacBook Update?

According to a new report, Apple may be preparing to update its white polycarbonate MacBook, the low-cost option in its notebook family. AppleInsider reports that one of its sources saw the white shells that became the calling card of the $999 notebook.

But Apple may not be stopping there, with a potential refresh of the iMac all-in-one computer potentially getting an update this year as well, according to AppleInsider.

Updates to the MacBook and iMac would round out a year that has seen the majority of Apple's hardware get a refresh. At its World Wide Developers Conference in June Apple rolled out revamped MacBook Pros and introduced a new addition to the family, the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple also gave its MacBook Pro family a price drop at WWDC, marking a change for Apple's apparent pricing philosophy. Generally, Apple charges a premium for its hardware. The notebooks, desktops or smartphones tend to have a different class of usability and function. That function and design, however, tends to translate to customers in the form of a higher price, something most Apple users don't object to.

Still, Apple has been particularly sensitive about its pricing this year. In fact, Apple in July asked Microsoft to change at least one of its "Laptop Hunters" ads.

For Apple to eventually get around to giving its low-price option an upgrade isn't necessarily surprising. What exactly the updates will mean for the white, polycarbonate MacBook remains to be seen.